Austria urged North Macedonia to include Bulgarians in its Constitution

"It makes sense and it is necessary for the Republic of North Macedonia to make changes to its constitution", said the President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, at a joint press conference with the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski. This was reported by BTA.

We are talking about changes with which the Bulgarians must be registered as a state-creating nation in the Republic of North Macedonia in the same way as the other ethnic groups in the country are registered. Through the so-called French proposal, which, according to various nationalist circles, Bulgaria should not have accepted, Bulgarian interests in our southwestern neighbor became a priority for the entire EU. Skopje cannot start negotiations with the EU before accepting these changes.

"You have made a difficult but correct choice, your future is in the EU. We have good feedback on the screening process that is currently taking place and we encourage you to make the changes to the constitution, then the EU accession process goes according to plan," said the Austrian President.

He declined to comment on the country's internal political differences over constitutional changes, but said he would urge all political groups in parliament to think about the long-term risks. Van der Bellen pointed out that constitutional changes "should not be dramatized".

The President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, recalled that the commitment to include Bulgarians in the country's constitution was accepted with the adoption of the negotiation framework and "those who think they can make a better negotiation framework do not know the procedures in the EU".

"If anyone can negotiate a better negotiating framework, I will be the...